E-mail, instant message and blog misuse can cost companies millions in lawsuits: study
In the United States, costly lawsuits and employee terminations top the list of employer concerns regarding employee e-mail mismanagement, according to a new study.
Twenty-four per cent of organizations have had employee e-mail subpoenaed and 15 per cent of companies have gone to court to battle lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail, according to the 2006 Workplace E-mail, Instant Messaging and Blog Survey by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute.
Employers are fighting back by firing workers who violate computer-use policies. Twenty-six per cent of the 416 employers surveyed have terminated employees for e-mail misuse, two per cent have dismissed workers for inappropriate instant messenger chat and nearly two per cent have fired workers for offensive blog content.
Employee bloggers face an increased risk of termination as employers struggle to control legal claims, regulatory fines and security breaches. In the United States, bloggers' jobs aren't protected by the constitutional right to free speech, said Nancy Flynn, author of Blog Rules and executive director of the e-Policy institute.
"The First Amendment only restricts government control of speech – it does not protect jobs," she said. "Bloggers who work for private employers in employment-at-will states can be fired for just about any reason, including blogging at home on their own time or at the office during work hours."
Employers eager to minimize the risks associated with e-mail, instant messaging and blogging, and maximize employee compliance should develop and communicate clear rules and policies, said Flynn. Seventy-six per cent of organizations have e-mail use and content policies and 68 per cent have a policy governing personal e-mail.
But even more importantly, organizations need a retention/deletion policy to ensure business-critical e-mails are archived for future reference. The inability to produce subpoenaed e-mail resulted in million-dollar lawsuits last year. However, only 34 per cent of companies have such a policy in place and 34 per cent of employees don't know the difference between business-critical e-mail and insignificant messages that can be deleted.
Some of the risks associated with blogging include copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, defamation, sexual harassment, trade secret theft, security breaches and productivity drains, according to Flynn's new book.
Despite these risks, only nine per cent of organizations have a policy governing the operation of personal blogs on company time.
"With 55 per cent of business blogs 'facing out' for customers and other third parties to read, the lack of written blog rules is a potentially costly oversight," said Flynn.
Twenty-four per cent of organizations have had employee e-mail subpoenaed and 15 per cent of companies have gone to court to battle lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail, according to the 2006 Workplace E-mail, Instant Messaging and Blog Survey by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute.
Employers are fighting back by firing workers who violate computer-use policies. Twenty-six per cent of the 416 employers surveyed have terminated employees for e-mail misuse, two per cent have dismissed workers for inappropriate instant messenger chat and nearly two per cent have fired workers for offensive blog content.
Employee bloggers face an increased risk of termination as employers struggle to control legal claims, regulatory fines and security breaches. In the United States, bloggers' jobs aren't protected by the constitutional right to free speech, said Nancy Flynn, author of Blog Rules and executive director of the e-Policy institute.
"The First Amendment only restricts government control of speech – it does not protect jobs," she said. "Bloggers who work for private employers in employment-at-will states can be fired for just about any reason, including blogging at home on their own time or at the office during work hours."
Employers eager to minimize the risks associated with e-mail, instant messaging and blogging, and maximize employee compliance should develop and communicate clear rules and policies, said Flynn. Seventy-six per cent of organizations have e-mail use and content policies and 68 per cent have a policy governing personal e-mail.
But even more importantly, organizations need a retention/deletion policy to ensure business-critical e-mails are archived for future reference. The inability to produce subpoenaed e-mail resulted in million-dollar lawsuits last year. However, only 34 per cent of companies have such a policy in place and 34 per cent of employees don't know the difference between business-critical e-mail and insignificant messages that can be deleted.
Some of the risks associated with blogging include copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, defamation, sexual harassment, trade secret theft, security breaches and productivity drains, according to Flynn's new book.
Despite these risks, only nine per cent of organizations have a policy governing the operation of personal blogs on company time.
"With 55 per cent of business blogs 'facing out' for customers and other third parties to read, the lack of written blog rules is a potentially costly oversight," said Flynn.
